– Toyota has only just broken ground on its new U.S. headquarters, in Plano, Texas, and it appears there’s already been a cultural rub-off. As evidence, we present this lifted, 4×4 Sienna minivan. – Perched high atop the chassis of a Toyota Tacoma pickup, this former mom-mobile now rolls on ultra-wide, off-road tires, and features cool, rear-hinged front doors. Fender flares and a new front bumper—both seemingly formed out of
By Tom Perry and Sylvia Westall BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State fighters launched simultaneous attacks against the Syrian government forces and Kurdish militia, moving back onto the offensive after losing ground in recent days to Kurdish-led forces near the capital of their “caliphate”. After losses to the Kurds backed by U.S.-led air strikes, Islamic State sought to retake the initiative with incursions into the Kurdish-held town of Kobani at the
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As talks on an Iran nuclear deal enter the final stretch, U.S. lawmakers are sharpening warnings against a “weak” agreement and laying down red lines that, if crossed, could prompt Congress to trip up a carefully crafted international pact. Several influential lawmakers said they do not want to see any sanctions lifted before Tehran begins complying with a deal, and want a tough verification
By Adrian Croft and Phil Stewart BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO’s head warned on Thursday of a risk of a return to heavy fighting in Ukraine but said it would be unwise to declare a ceasefire agreement dead, despite repeated violations, because it remained the best hope for peace. “The conflict in Ukraine has already cost over 6,000 lives.
By Louis Charbonneau and Parisa Hafezi VIENNA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Iran’s foreign minister in recent days to tell him that Tehran must answer questions about whether its past atomic research was arms-related if it wants a nuclear deal, officials said. The telephone calls came after Kerry raised eyebrows among some Western officials by saying the U.S. was “not fixated” on any past Iranian work,
Islamic State militants detonated a car bomb and then opened fire on Iraqi troops in the western province of Anbar on Thursday, killing 14 soldiers, security sources said. Iraqi government forces and their Shi’ite militia allies are hoping to recapture Anbar’s provincial capital Ramadi, which was seized by the ultra-hardline Sunni insurgents last month. Islamic State swept through northern Iraq last year and has since taken control of a third
The United States’ intelligence chief said on Thursday that China was the top suspect in a hack of a U.S. agency that compromised the personnel records of millions of Americans, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper made the comment at a Washington intelligence conference, the Journal reported. “You have to kind of salute the Chinese for what they did,” given the difficulty of
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are edging higher in midday trading as investors were encouraged by a big jump in U.S. consumer spending last month.
Norway’s government proposed on Thursday that children as young as seven should be allowed to change their legal gender with parental support, among the lowest ages in the world for transgender rights. “Today’s rules in this area are unacceptable and have been unchanged for almost 60 years,” Health Minister Bent Hoie said in a statement on the plan, to be debated by experts before any formal bill goes to parliament.
The Supreme Court spared a key part of President Barack Obama’s signature law in a 6-3 decision Thursday, ruling that the federal government may continue to subsidize health insurance in the dozens of states that did not set up their own exchanges.